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146 · Shiur 4 · The Laws of Talmud Torah (Torah Study) I Tzurba M’Rabanan

has diminished. Even if he is a poor man who derives his live- ,וקמצו ןמ סנרפתמו ינע ויו ו יפא .וח
lihood from charity and begs from door to door, even if he – םינבו ושיא עב ו יפאו .םיחתפו ע רזחמו
is a husband and [a father of] children, he must establish a ,ו י בו םויב ורות מומ ת ןמז ו עובק בייח
fixed time for Torah study during the day and at night, as it is .״ו י ו םמוי וב תיגוו“ :רמאנש
stated (Yehoshua 1:8): “You shall think about it day and night.”
10. Until when is a person obligated to study Torah? Until ,ותומ םוי מע ?ורות מומ בייח יתמיא מע .י
ָ
ָ
ֹ ך ְ
the day he dies, as it is stated (Devarim 4:9): Lest you remove םירבמ( ״ךיֶּי ַ ח י ֵ מְי ּ ב ָ ב ְּ ִ מ ּורּוסָי ן ֶ פּו“ :רמאנש
it from your heart, all the days of your life.” And whenever a .ח וש אוו מומי ב קוסעי א ש ןמז ו ,)ט ,מ
person is not involved with study, he forgets.
This passage seems to fit better with the sources we saw earlier about the importance of daily Torah
study, which seem to be unrelated to whether one was taught by his father or whether one knows the
halachot or not. How can we understand the relationship between the various sources?
The Beit HaLevi, Rav Yosef Dov Soloveitchik of Brisk, develops the idea that there are two elements
within the mitzva of talmud Torah:

1. Torah study in order to know how to fulfill the mitzvot properly
2. Torah study for its own sake 9

a Beit HaLevi on the Torah, | הרותה לע יולה תיב 8 ..
Shemot 24:7 ז:דכ תומש

…And it is known that Torah study contains two elements: :םינפ ינשמ אוה הרותה דומילד ,עודי הנהו…
One is to know how and what to do [with regard to fulfill- אל םאו ,תושעל המו ךאיה עדיל ידכ ,דחא
ment of the mitzvot], and if he doesn’t learn, how will ״מיסח ץראו םע א ו“ ?םייקי ךאיה – דומלי
he fulfill them? “And an ignoramus cannot be pious”… יווה …הלעמ דוע שי …םנמא .)ו:ב תובא(
10
but there is another level… the study is also an inde- תחנו ומ ו ,ומצעל השע תווצמ םג דומילה
pendent positive mitzva, like wearing tefillin and the like. – תוניחב יתש ווו אצמנו .ומומ ו ןי יפת
Thus, there are two dimensions: Preparation for the mitzvot,
and also a purpose of its own. And this is what it means in ווזו .ומצע ינפב תי ת םגו ,תווצמו אובמ
Menachot 99b when “Ben Dama asked, etc.,” that the obli- בויחהד …״אממ ןב אש“ ,:טצ תוחנמב אתיאמ
gation [of study] due to [enabling proper] fulfillment of ,וב אצי רבכ אה ,תווצמה םויק םושמ יווהד
the mitzvot he had already fulfilled, since he already knew ,תושע ךאיו ו ו ורותו עמויש ןווי
how to fulfill the entire Torah,as something that is done for a ךשמיו ו ןיא – תי ת וזיא ושענו רבממ
certain purpose, one need not continue once the purpose has ,שקובמו תי תו ותוא ךרוצו יפ מ רתוי
been achieved, and he is only obligated due to the mitzva לש הווצמה םצע דצמ בייח םוקמ לכמ קרו
of the Torah study itself… …הרות דומילה

According to the Beit HaLevi, we can answer our questions as follows. When the Gemara in Kiddushin and
Rambam refer to an obligation of Torah study only when one has not been taught by one’s father, they
are referring to the dimension of Torah study as preparation for properly fulfilling the mitzvot. Therefore,
if one already knows the practical guidelines for doing so, one no longer need engage in Torah study

9. Some commentaries, including the Bach and the Ba’al HaTanya, suggest an additional element of Torah study for the sake of
bringing us closer to Hashem. Moreover, it is not entirely clear what the notion of Torah lishma actually means. See Yehudah
Levi, “Torah Study,” p. 170, for a synopsis. [Addition of the English editors]
10. In this context, the Beit HaLevi also discusses (in the sections not quoted here) the difference between the obligation of Torah
study for men and for women. We will address the issue of Torah study for women more fully in the next shiur.

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